


Just Felix

by Anthemyst



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Drabble Collection, Let him live, M/M, Nelix, Sequel, felix just wants a quiet corner of a library, guardian nino
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-06-02 22:37:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19450882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anthemyst/pseuds/Anthemyst
Summary: Felix Agreste has had enough of magic to last him seven lifetimes, but when you're dating the Guardian of the Ancient Miraculouses, life can get messy. Then again, when is life ever not messy?Sequel toFeathers to Midnight.





	1. Wed Me

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back! This is going to be a series of drabbles set in a post-Feathers to Midnight world, probably hastily written without anything resembling plot or structure. Enjoy!

“Fe?” Nino slowly opened the door of their apartment and stuck his head in. “You home? You weren’t answering your…”

There was no answer, but Nino could hear the news playing from their living room. Grimacing, he entered and made his way over. He’d heard the news on the radio and immediately tried to get in touch, but Felix had gone radio silent. Nino found him asleep on the couch, and he gently shook his shoulder. “Hey.”

Felix slowly opened his eyes. “Hey.”

“Are you okay?” Nino asked, sitting down next to his boyfriend and immediate putting his other arm around him. “I called Adrien, he said he’d come over if you need-“

“Marinette’s two days past her due date, Nino, I’m not asking Adrien to come over. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Are _you_ okay?” Felix asked. “I’m not the one whose attempted murderer just became eligible for parole. If anything, I should be the one worried about you.”

Nino gave Felix a half-smile. “I guess we’ll just have to agree to worry about each other, then,” he said. “Come on, let’s get something to eat.” Nino stood and made his way to the kitchen.

“Wait, no,” Felix said, hurrying after him. “It’s, uh, kind of a mess, I need to-“

“Holy shit,” Nino breathed, staring at the romantic, candlelit room, utterly stunned. “Felix, what… what is all this?”

“Nothing, it doesn’t matter anymore,” Felix said. “Just give me five minutes to put everything away so we can eat.”

“Dude.” Nino raised an eyebrow. “Spill. Now.” Felix pressed his lips together for a moment, then sighed, pulled a small box out of his pocket and handed it to Nino. Nino’s eyes widened as he opened it and saw the gold band within. “Is this what I think it is?” Felix nodded curtly. “Dare I ask why you think it doesn’t matter anymore?”

Felix rolled his eyes, and Nino saw how the candlelight caught in the tears Felix wouldn’t let fall. “He’s not gone forever anymore, that’s why. How am I supposed to ask you to become a member of this family when its head almost murdered you? When he’s going to be a free man someday?”

“Oh, Felix.” Nino wrapped his arms around Felix, and Felix immediately melted into his embrace. “First of all, Marinette is the head of your family and you better not let her hear you say otherwise.” Felix let out a sound that was half a laugh, half a sob. “Second… I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and if your bastard of a father gets in the way of that it’s gonna piss me off way more than the time he tried to kill me, understand?” Felix nodded. “I’m not saying it’ll be easy, if he ever gets out, but I want to face that together. I want to face everything together. Got it?”

Felix nodded, his face still pressed against Nino. “Got it,” he mumbled into Nino’s shoulder.

“Good. Now. I think you had something you wanted to ask me?”

“Will you marry me, Nino?”

“Yes,” Nino said, and Felix tightened his embrace so much Nino could barely breathe. “Yes, Felix, I can’t wait to marry you.”


	2. Felix is Chat Noir

“Red light! Red light!”

“It’s yellow!” Nino shouted at his best friend as he accelerated through the intersection.

“If you crash this car-“

“We’ll get picked up by an ambulance,” Felix pointed out. He turned around in the passenger seat to look at his brother. “Either way, Marinette gets to the hospital.”

“I love you, too, Felix,” Marinette said, rolling her eyes.

“Don’t talk, bugaboo, just focus on timing your contractions.”

“They’re still eight minutes apart, kitty, it’s fine.”

“The doctor said to come in at ten minutes apart, and the hospital is still fifteen kilometers away. I knew this was a bad idea, why did I let Nino talk us into a beach weekend?”

“She’s not due for twelve days!” Nino protested, as he took a left turn too sharply.

“It’s fine,” Marinette said smoothly, “we didn’t get to the hospital the first time until the contractions were two minutes apart, and Emma still took another twelve hours to be born.”

“Babies come faster the second time, Marinette, the doctor said-“ Adrien stopped talking as Marinette winced. “How many minutes was that? Seven? Six?”

“Still eight, love. Plenty of time for Nino to drop us off, pick Emma up from my parents, and get back to the hospital before he’s born.”

“We can’t predict-” Adrien was cut off as the car came to a sudden stop, and everyone inside lurched forward. Adrien’s arm shot across Marinette protectively. “Nino?”

“Traffic,” Nino said.

Marinette frowned. “At this hour?”

Ahead, they could hear a number of cars honking angrily. Frowning, Felix rolled his window down and stuck his body halfway out of the car to look ahead. He came back in a second later. “Um.”

“‘Um’, what?” Nino said.

“Um, I don’t think we’re getting to the hospital any time soon.”

“It’s the next exit. What-” Nino stopped talking as a giant thorny vine shot past the car, glanced off the car behind them, and wound itself around the roadway’s guardrail. “Shit.” Nino’s cell phone started buzzing, and he answered it. “Alya? Uh huh… yeah, we see it. We’re kind of in the middle of it, actually. Well, no, not good, Marinette’s-yeah. Uh huh.” Nino sighed. “Hang on, we’ll figure it out. I’ll call you right back.” Nino hung up. “Alya’s fighting...whatever this thing is, but illusions aren’t much use.”

Marinette went pale, and her breathing quickened. “What does she need?”

“Cataclysm.”

Adrien shook his head. “No, I’m not leaving Marinette here.”

Nino pursed his lips. “If this doesn’t get cleared up soon-”

“No, no, no,” Marinette said, a note of panic rising in her voice, “If I have to give birth in the backseat of your car, Nino, my lamaze partner is staying right here or I swear to God I’ll strangle you with the umbilical cord.”

“If Adrien and Alya don’t take too long-”

“I’ll do it,” Felix interrupted. “Adrien, give me your ring.”

An immediate heavy silence fell over the car. ‘Are you sure, Fe?” Adrien finally asked.

“Why not?” Felix asked defensively. “I’m familiar with Miraculouses, and I’ve seen you use yours a hundred times. I’ll figure it out. It’ll be fine.”

“You don’t have to, Felix,” Nino said softly. “I can-”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Felix said. “You’re the closest thing to a doctor in this car right now. Adrien, hand over the ring.” Felix twisted around to look at his brother. Adrien frowned, but pulled off his Miraculous and passed it forward. Felix slid it onto his finger next to his wedding ring, trying not to think too hard about the last time he’d wielded a Miraculous. “Plagg, claws out!” Felix, now Chat Noir, looked at everyone in the car. “Wish me luck,” he said wryly.

Marinette leaned forward and squeezed his hand tightly. “Thank you,” she said.

* * *

Felix poked his head into the hospital room. Marinette was asleep in the bed, Adrien was sitting next to her, and in his arms…

“Hey. You guys made it here okay?”

Adrien looked up and smiled. “Yeah, nick of time. How was it?”

Felix shrugged and walked over, holding the ring out. “Fine. Alya did most of the real work, I just cataclysmed what I was told to cataclysm.” He handed the ring back to his brother, and Adrien immediately deposited the sleeping baby into Felix’s arms. “Oh, you don’t have to-”

“Say hello to your uncle, baby.”

“Hey, buddy,” Felix said softly. He shook his head. “Can’t believe you’re having another one. Don’t get me wrong, I love being an uncle, but I love being able to hand them back at the end of the day, too. Little Emilie Sabine’s adorable, but she’s such a handful. I could never do what you guys do.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Adrien said, leaning over Felix’s shoulder. “You do your part, too. This little guy would have been born in Nino’s beaten down sedan if it wasn’t for you.”

“I guess.” The baby opened one eye, and Felix felt something catch in his throat. “What’s his name?”

“Hugo.”

“Suits him.”

“Yeah.” Adrien smiled. “Hugo Felix Agreste.”


	3. Cat

“Mrrrow?”

Felix looked up from his mother’s dog-eared copy of The Three Musketeers to see a small orange tabby staring at him quizzically, peeking around the end of a row of bookshelves. “How did you get in?” He looked towards the front door of the library, but it was closed. Shrugging, Felix picked his book back up. “You figured out how to get it, you can figure out how to get out,” he muttered.

By the time Felix looked up from his book again, the cat was gone. He was surprised to find he was a little disappointed, although he knew the librarian would never allow a mascot. On the other hand, the librarian seemed content to let his summer intern manage things most of the time, and the place was usually pretty quiet-the cat could have stuck around for a few days before being discovered, Felix guessed. Not that he needed the company.

Felix got back to his apartment to find that his boyfriend had let himself in. “Mom sent this over,” Nino said, shoving a steaming bowl of Mrs. Lahiffe’s home cooking into Felix’s hands. “She’s worried you’re going to starve now that you’re living alone.” Nino picked up his own bowl, already nearly empty Felix noticed, and sat back down at Felix’s small kitchen table. “Good day at the library?”

“Same as every other day,” Felix said, joining him. He briefly considered mentioning the cat, but decided against it. Nino had already dragged him to the local shelter twice ‘just to look’, and Felix didn’t want Nino to get the wrong idea. “A few teens looking for their summer reading assignments in the morning, and then nobody else all day. I’m basically being paid to read. It’s my dream job. How was your day?”

“Busier than yours.” Nino hesitated. “I might see what shifts are available in August, maybe-“

“No,” Felix interrupted quickly, tired of the argument already. “You’re going to Marrakesh.”

“It wouldn’t kill me to miss one year-“

“You told me it was your favorite trip every year growing up, and you’re worried you won’t be able to visit as often after you graduate. Don’t waste a year on me.”

“Nothing spent on you is a waste, Felix,” Nino said softly.

Felix flushed. “You know what I mean. Six weeks isn’t that long, and Adrien’s still in the city-“

“-juggling full-time superheroing with a degree, you two haven’t seen each other in almost two weeks-“

“I like being alone!” Nino started. “Really,” Felix added, more calmly. “I’ll be fine.”

Nino pursed his lips for a moment, then dropped the subject.

* * *

The next day, Felix found the orange cat sniffing around his packed lunch in the employee room at the back. “How did you… oh, whatever. Nino’s mom always sends enough food for a week, I was probably going to throw half of this away anyway.” He opened his bag and pulled out a piece of chicken. “Do cats like spices?” The cat ate up the piece of chicken eagerly, then began to lick Felix’s fingers. “Don’t push it.” Felix pulled his hand away and began to eat his lunch. “I bet you have twenty places on this block alone you show up at to beg for lunch. The really good food is a few kilometers west, though.” Felix picked up his book. “I can’t read this around the other library science students,” he told the cat a few minutes later.

“Mrrrow?”

Felix showed the cat the page he was reading. “Dog-earring books is sacrilege. It’s Mom’s copy. She was a little more, uh, aggressive, about loving books.” Felix pointed to a line that his mother had doodled half a dozen hearts around. “This book was her favorite. Heroes, intrigue, adventure.” Felix frowned, then turned away from the cat and went back to reading.

By the end of the week, the cat was in Felix’s lap any time he sat down for more than five minutes at a time. The fur had made hiding the cat from Nino impossible, and of course Nino had immediately asked if it had a collar, if Felix was going to bring it back to his apartment for the weekend, if Felix had named it yet.

“I can’t name you,” Felix murmured, scratching the cat’s head idly as he read. “Height of arrogance, naming a cat. You’re already somebody else’s. You just come here to mooch.”

The cat purred happily in response.

“Yeah, I hope you’re happy,” Felix muttered. “Now Nino won’t let up about me getting a fleabag of my own. Not that I would,” he assured the cat quickly. “I’m not a cat person. Present company excepted. Anyway, none of the shelter cats like me. It’d be selfish to stick one with me. Nino won’t listen.”

The cat’s claws began to extend and retract. One caught on a thread of Felix’s vest, but Felix kept on scratching behind the cat’s ear all the same.

“Wouldn’t kill your owners to get you a collar, though, would it? Cat by himself off adventuring in this city. They ought to be more careful. Adventurers don’t always come back.” Felix reached another dog-eared page, another passage about honor and daring that a young Emilie had apparently adored, and he slammed the book shut abruptly, startling the cat off his lap. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I have books to shelve.”

By the time Felix finished his task, the cat was gone once more.

Felix stopped by the pet store on his way home and bought a collar. It didn’t make the cat _his_ , the cat probably wouldn’t even come back, but. Well. If it did, and if it stayed still long enough, Felix could make sure that he’d get a call if the cat got itself into too much trouble. Better yet, maybe its owners would see and call the number on the tag so Felix could give them an acerbic piece of his mind.

“Tag machine’s to the left,” the clerk told Felix, handing over a large token. Felix walked over to a machine with a large touch screen and began to follow the prompts.

NAME?

Frowning, Felix skipped the first step, entered his phone number and address, and pressed DONE.

NAME?

Felix rolled his eyes, but didn’t hesitate before typing in D’ARTAGNAN.

* * *

“Ooo’s a widdle pwecious kitten? Yes he is! Yes he is!” Mrs. Lahiffe cooed as Nino carried in the orange cat.

“The lady at the shelter said he doesn’t like too much attention,” Nino reminded his mother, as the cat wriggled from his arms and immediately ran under the Lahiffe couch.

“That’s my first grandbaby, Nino,” his mother said with a mock pout. “It’s my job to smother him with attention.”

“How much longer is it staying here?” Chris asked, annoyed.

“Oh, I’m gonna tell Felix what’s up in a day or two,” Nino said, “and then he’ll move in with Felix.”

“Sure about that?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Nino said. “Those two are perfect for each other.”


	4. Boredom

“When are Mama and Papa getting here?” Emma asked. “I’m _bored_.” She draped herself dramatically across a chair in the hospital room.

Felix snuck a glance at his phone, on which he’d pulled up the latest coverage of Ladybug and Chat Noir’s daring rescue efforts in the biggest fire Paris had seen in over twenty years. “Traffic, Em,” Felix said. “Not too long. Do you want to watch a cartoon?”

“I want to help Uncle Nino.” The young girl was now hanging completely upside down from her chair, her dark hair piling up on the hospital’s linoleum floor.

“Uncle Nino needs to concentrate,” Felix said. “Here, I can get that show you like on my phone, we can-“

“Of course Emma can help,” Nino said. Emma squealed in excitement and reverse somersaulted off the chair. “Here, hold this over your grandmother.”

“What does this do?” Emma asked, taking the crystal from her uncle.

“It has healing properties,” Nino said. “Hold it right there, over her forehead.” Emma held the crystal out and stayed perfectly still. Smiling, Nino went back to his work.

“She has my name, right?” Emma asked.

“That’s right. Emilie Agreste.”

“Why’s she sleeping?”

Nino glanced at Felix. “She, uh, she helped save a lot of people once. She was like Ladybug and Chat Noir.” Emma’s eyes widened. “But it was very hard, and she got hurt, so now she has to sleep to get better. Understand?”

Emma nodded reverently. “When will she get better?”

Nino sighed. “I wish I knew. Not for a long time.”

“Oh.” Emma tilted her head, studying her grandmother for a moment. “Is she dreaming?”

Nino frowned and looked at Felix helplessly. “Yeah,” Felix said. “Yeah, she’s dreaming.”

“About what?”

“Your wedding.”

Emma’s jaw dropped, and then she looked at Felix suspiciously. “You’re just saying that because Mama told you I was drawing wedding dresses.”

“No, I’m not,” Felix lied. He stood up and went to stand beside his niece. “She could see the future. That was how she could be such a great hero. And she saw your wedding day.”

“Really?” Emma whispered.

Felix nodded. “She loves your dress. She thinks you look like a princess.”

Emma looked back at her grandmother. “Will she be awake by then?”

Felix twisted his own wedding ring, remembering how keenly he’d felt his mother’s absence the day he’d gotten married. He felt warmth, and looked down to see Nino taking his hand and squeezing it comfortingly. “I hope so, Em,” Felix said.


	5. Happy Birthday

D’artagnan jumped up onto the counter, cautiously sniffed one of the many splatters of stew covering the kitchen, and then began lapping at it eagerly.

“Glad someone likes it,” Felix muttered dryly.

Nino laughed. “I’m sure it’s not that bad, dude.” He grabbed the spoon from the pot and licked it. “It’s, uh, it’s very… ambitious.”

“It’s undercooked and burnt at the same time. This does not bode well for your birthday dinner.”

“Oh, just let my mom make dinner.” Nino pulled his phone from his pocket and began to scroll through a takeout app. “How do you feel about Chinese?”

“Your mom makes dinner every year. You’re graduating in a few months, I should know how to use my own kitchen by the time you move in.”

A smile crept onto Nino’s face, and he put his phone aside. “Oh, _that’s_ what this is about. You’re cute when you get worried about being a good boyfriend, you know that?” He leaned forward, winding an arm around Felix’s waist and kissing his quickly reddening cheek.

“Just trying to be more of a grown-up,” Felix said defensively, but he leaned into Nino’s embrace all the same. “Chinese sounds good.”

“Yeah?” Nino kissed Felix again, this time on the lips, gently pressing him against the counter, Felix offering no resistance as he kissed Nino back. “Oh, that reminds me, I wanted to ask you a question about Chinese. The language, not the food. Your command of the language is still better than mine, and there was this part of the Grimoire I was having trouble-”

Every muscle in Felix’s body immediately tensed. “Ask Adrien,” he said quickly. “He’d, he’s, he’ll know. Adrien.”

Nino frowned and took a step back, giving Felix space. “Sorry,” he said. “Was that dumb?”

“No, of course not. It’s fine. I just think, Adrien always got better marks on-”

“I shouldn’t have brought up the Grimoire. Stupid. You don’t want to hear about Miraculous shit, I know that, I completely respect it, I promise. You don’t have to-”

“Please stop apologizing,” Felix interrupted, closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Can we just order dinner and not talk about it?”

Nino just barely caught himself before saying sorry once again. A million assurances, a million promises, a million apologies rose and died in his throat. “Yeah,” Nino said quietly. “Of course.”

* * *

“Do you think I ruined everything?” Nino asked his best friend over the phone a few hours later.

Adrien sighed. “No, of course not. I think you should probably talk about this with Felix, though.”

“Felix doesn’t want to talk. Felix needs his space.” Nino heard a skeptical snort from Adrien. “Well… okay, maybe he doesn’t need as much space as he pretends to, but… When we started dating, I promised he didn’t have to take his Miraculous back.”

“Asking Felix to translate a line of Chinese is not the same thing as asking him to become a superhero and you know it.”

“Is moving in with him a mistake?”

There was a long, stunned pause. “What?” Adrien finally managed to say. “You two have been together for _years_. You’re great together. Why wouldn’t you move in?”

“Because I can’t keep all my Guardian shit out of his life if I move in with him, Adrien.”

“Felix said he was fine dating the Guardian, Nino,” Adrien said.

“He _said_ that, but,” Nino let out a frustrated groan. “This Miraculous shit has hurt Felix so much, Adrien, taken so much from him-and you too, obviously,” Nino added in a rush, “but you’ve made your peace with it, and Felix…” Nino trailed off.

“Felix has made his own peace with it, too, Nino,” Adrien said gently. “It just looks different from my peace with it, that’s all.”

Nino frowned. “Maybe.”

There was a scuffling sound from Adrien’s end of the line. “We’re watching a movie! Talk to your boyfriend, not mine!” Nino heard Marinette shout into the receiver.

“Bugaboo, give me my phone back!” Adrien’s voice sounded far away, and Nino grinned despite himself.

“Okay, okay, Mari,” Nino said. “I’ll talk to him, I promise.”

* * *

For the first time in a long time, Nino felt nervous as he knocked on his boyfriend’s apartment door. For a few agonizing seconds, there was no response, and then came the faint sounds of footsteps that quickly grew louder. Felix opened the door. He was breathing a bit heavily, his cheeks were pink, and his usually immaculate appearance was decidedly untidy. Felix brushed a stray hair out of his face, and it stuck to his damp forehead. He smiled, and Nino’s heart eased. “Hey,” Felix said. “You’re right on time, I just finished.”

“Finished what?” In response, Felix’s grin widened. He took Nino’s hand and pulled him into the apartment. “Hey, um… about last night, I thought maybe we should…” Nino fell silent as Felix pulled him into his library. It was a small room, but cozy and dear to Felix. Nino blinked, confused, and looked at Felix. “What am I looking at?”

Felix gestured proudly to a nearly empty shelf, one that Nino realized was newly installed. “Happy early Birthday,” he said. “I wanted to make you something for once, but food is clearly off the table, so I built something instead. After last night…” Felix paused to collect his thoughts, then pointed to the two books on the shelf. “I got you my favorite French-Chinese-Chinese-French dictionary,” he said. “But then I thought, well, the Grimoire is really old, so maybe the most modern translations aren’t actually better for you, so I asked around the University and found out what would be best for texts more than a few thousand years old. And there’s plenty of space left, for the actual Grimoire, and any other Guardian books you need.”

“Holy shit,” Nino breathed. “I love it.”

“Yeah?” Felix smiled again. “I, um… Okay, look. I can’t promise I’m always going to be up for hearing about the Grimoire, or Guardian stuff, or even superhero stuff, I wish I could but I just can’t. But that doesn’t mean I want you hiding it from me, either. It’s a part of you, and I love you. And this is going to be your home, too. Every part of you deserves a home here.”

Nino blinked, his eyes suddenly damp, and then he grabbed Felix and kissed him. “You never stop amazing me, you know that?” Nino murmured between eager kisses.

Felix kissed him back just as eagerly. “Happy Birthday, Nino.”


End file.
